The New England Patriots easily could have collapsed after consecutive unsuccessful offensive and defensive series’ to open Sunday’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Patriots came out of the locker room looking like the team that rolled over in the second half of its Week 1 33-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins. But then the Patriots made some slight adjustments, didn’t lose hope and were aided by a Vikings team that didn’t appear to know what it was doing without running back Adrian Peterson.

The Vikings quickly squandered a 7-0 lead after quarterback Matt Cassel threw an interception to Patriots safety Devin McCourty, and New England cruised from there, scoring 30 unanswered points.

Cornerback Darrelle Revis credited the Patriots’ veteran leaders with picking the team up in the first quarter. They continued to mix up offensive and defensive alignments, focused on what worked in a week of successful practices, and saw results on the…